Suspected drone strike kills five in central Somalia -local leaders

In central Somalia, five civilians and three al Shabaab militants were killed in a suspected drone strike, according to two local leaders. The incident took place in the village of El-Lahelay in Galgadud state, where the militants had sought refuge in a house compound containing a family. Reports diverged, with Somalia’s state broadcaster stating that a woman and two children were killed by a landmine hidden by the militants in a house. However, the state news agency SONNA reported that the three militants killed were senior leaders of al Shabaab, including Olol Ali Guled, the supposed commander of the group in Galgadud. SONNA did not mention the use of a drone or the killing of the family, describing the incident as a “special operation” that occurred on Wednesday night.

America’s Africa Command (AFRICOM), which has been assisting the Somali government in its yearlong offensive against al Shabaab, confirmed that three militants were killed and stated that AFRICOM had evacuated injured civilians. AFRICOM acknowledged that civilians were unfortunately injured and killed near the operation, but mentioned that their forces were not present on site nor conducted any air strikes during or in support of the operation.

Local leader Farah Aden reported that a drone had tracked the militants to a house in El-Lahelay, belonging to one of their relatives. Aden explained that the militants were sitting outside the house, enjoying meat and rice when the drone struck. He clarified that the house was not targeted, and the civilians were hit by the bomb’s shrapnel rather than being directly targeted. Reuters’ requests for comments from al Shabaab and the government communications minister went unanswered.

Last year, Somalia’s interior minister revealed that Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 drones were being used by the military in their campaign against al Shabaab. This offensive has successfully pushed the jihadists out of significant portions of territory in the country’s central region.

Abdi Sheikh reported this story; Hereward Holland wrote it, and Mark Heinrich edited it.